The Internet of Things
(IoT) is ushering in a whole new era of connected devices; from
wireless thermostats, security systems to smart phones and smart
watches, monitoring and control of remote devices has reached the
mainstream consumer market. However, enterprise IoT applications are
more complex. Smart building control solutions, one of the core
applications for enterprise IoT, need robust design, high availability,
redundancy and architecture designed to scale in order to satisfy high
performance requirements.

Moreover, many facilities have proprietary building management systems
and many systems rely on different communication protocols (BACnet,
Modbus, LonWorks) to exchange information. Integrating disparate systems, getting them to
communicate using a standard protocol and providing interoperability
across devices is the biggest roadblock preventing the IoT from
reaching its true potential for the Enterprise market.

Lighting
permeates almost every urban space and is seen as the perfect network
on which to roll out value in the Internet of Things. In a Memoori webinar earlier this year, wireless expert
Nick Hunn described “lighting as the “Trojan Horse” for connectivity
and IoT in Buildings”, simultaneously the relatively stagnant lighting
industry has blossomed under the IoT movement as explored in our new report.

Advances in wireless communications and energy-efficient lighting
equipment have made it possible to use mesh networking for the control
of light, creating reliable, large-scale wireless lighting. This can
provide enhanced control and reductions of lighting energy consumption
for commercial and industrial buildings.

Technology evangelists, the hi-tech start-up world and large technology
firms are evaluating the wireless opportunities at the intersection of
the digital light sources and the IoT. However, market and technical
requirements are in flux without universal standards and the direction
remains unclear.

The principal reason for the hesitance to
proactively implement a lighting control strategy is the confusion
around which technology or vendor to invest in, particularly when it
comes to lighting control systems for the indoor commercial and office
environments.

For
residential lighting control, the dominant protocol is clear, many
major lighting OEMs are supporting the ZigBee protocol. However, for
indoor commercial and office lighting controls, the technology options
remain varied and expanding. Several lighting OEMs are choosing to wait
until there is a dominant or de facto standard in order to avoid an
improper technology selection at this early stage in the lighting
control lifecycle.

There are three major reasons for the lack of a dominant global
standard. The first is that dominant lighting control technologies
and/or dominant LED driver dimming signals vary by region. For
instance, 0-10V is the dominant LED driver dimming signal in North
America, while DALI (digital addressable lighting interface) and PWM
(pulse-width modulation) are dominant in Europe and Japan,
respectively. From a building automation system standpoint, although
BACnet appears to be a dominant global protocol, KNX remains very
popular in Europe. Therefore, in order for lighting OEMs to cater to
end customers in various regions, it becomes difficult to rely on a
single technology.

The second reason is that lighting control installations vary by
complexity. At one end of the spectrum, simple installations may just
require an occupancy sensor, turning on/off when someone is in the
room. These simple systems act independently with no gateway to link
them to a centralised control system. At the other end of the spectrum,
there are centralised lighting control systems that manage, monitor,
and control lighting throughout the entire building or buildings.
Different types of technology are leveraged to create systems at each
end of the spectrum, posing another challenge to the OEM decision.

The third and most impactful reason why there may never be a single
dominant lighting control technology for indoor commercial and office
lighting is due to the fact that the lighting OEM does not mandate the
lighting control technology for any given project. This is often the
responsibility of the consultant, architect, building owner, or
building manager.

Regardless of the
particular protocol, the primary advantage of open standards-based
technology is the flexibility it provides to end users. They are no
longer tied to one vendor; rather, they can select from a number of
equipment or device providers as long as it supports the protocol used
within the building.

Standards
work best when large communities of innovators use them to build their
technology. Open systems with vendor interoperability provide lower
initial costs to end users and more innovation on the part of vendors
trying to differentiate themselves, benefiting the industry as a whole.
When a single lighting vendor controls the specifications and
deployment of its own standard, innovation is suppressed.

Organisations that start their lighting control investment with
technology based on open standards allow themselves flexibility in what
products they can buy. They also future-proof their infrastructure for
coming advancements, regardless of which vendor sells them.

Wireless controls
based on open standards are enabling the roadmap for smart buildings
and create the foundation for the IoT. Open wireless standards will
play a tremendous role in the future of lighting and building energy
management, because more than half of networked lighting control
investments will come from retrofit projects in the near future.

Today,
many organisations that felt lighting control was out of reach are now
in the market for upgrades. In addition to lighting, other high
energy-consuming devices like thermostats, plug-loads, and fans are
becoming more critical, requiring energy control due to changing energy
regulations and mandates. The open standards discussion is extremely
important because facilities managers have the opportunity to shape the
future of lighting and building control for their business and the
industry as a whole from the start.